some people say boards up downwind and some say just leave them down. has anybody figuired out which is faster?
I understand raising them so the boat has more leeway and the boat doesn't "trip" over the boards in windy conditions. less board in the water also means less drag too.
but I have also been told that it is better to leave them and get the kite flying. so you get powered up sooner but you have more drag from the boards down.
so which is faster in theory and which one in reality. cause they aren't always the same.
Thanks for any insight

You need the boards down so there is something to bite so you can get a hull flying, which loses you more drag than pulling a board up. I was told with a spinnaker you want to being flying a hull at almost all cost.

flying the hull at all times is the way to go fast for sure. so with the leeward board down the hull will fly more easily thus more speed. that's the sort of answer I was hoping for thanks.
basic guidline would be then to keep the boards down(at least the leeward one) except in super light and super heavy wind.

I was told to raise the boards till the curv on the front of the dagger well is still full. This is about 10 inches give or take. I marked them on the trailer and raised the dagger till the curve was at the bottom of the well. I was told than in light to moderate winds if you raise them more than that the pocket between the board and well will give you increased drag..

It might be important to note that IF you are going to pull the boards up; you should also evaluate WHEN you pull them up.

Rounding the mark is not the time to worry about you boards. Wait until you've gotten clear of traffic and your spinnaker is up and trimmed correctly. Then you can start to ponder the up/down situation.

In one of the other forums I think someone asked this same question about boards. The response from a highly regarded skipper was, "What boards?"
Implying that he never messed with them.

The Tiger can go well downwind with both boards down if the wind is not too high and the waves not too big. You can feel the boat begin to get a bit trippy - which is a cue to pull the boards up.

I've sailed against folk who pull both half way up, or just the windward board half up, while we have left both down - and it doesn't seem to make a huge difference in who gets to C mark first. With the both down you can put the crew out on the wire down wind a little earlier - which seems to stabilize the boat. If you want to attack or defend - then you likely want them up half to be able to stay high.

If we are pulling boards then my crew will often pull the starboard board half way when he comes in for the spin set, particularlly if there is an offset mark. We will often leave the leeward board down until we've gybed to port tack unless it is really windy. This keeps us focused on getting the spin hooked up - not on making secondary adjustments.

When coming in to C mark we get both boards down early. If we have both up half way and still have a gybe to make we'll push down the windward one to avoid a trip to the lee side on the final approach.

we allways pull boards up about 16 to 18" then use the crew to balance the boat to fly the hull, I did see mitch and a few euro's at the spain worlds sail down wind with windward board up and leeward down in light winds, but that was the first and last time.
mark

we allways pull boards up about 16 to 18" then use the crew to balance the boat to fly the hull, I did see mitch and a few euro's at the spain worlds sail down wind with windward board up and leeward down in light winds, but that was the first and last time.mark

The gods have spoken - and boards up is the true way! Thanks for contributing Mark.